Jew World Order

Christof Lehmann (nsnbc) : After the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled on the Chinese – Philippines dispute over territories in the South China Sea, the Chinese Foreign Ministry, on Thursday, announced that the ruling will not affect China’s territorial integrity or maritime right in the region. The dispute was brought before the Court in The Hague by the Philippines in 2013. China insists that disputes must be settled in bilateral negotiations. China has similar territorial disputes with Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia and Vietnam. The disputes also involve and affect the United States, Indonesia and other countries in or with “stakes” the region as well as the global economy.

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei told the press that China would neither accept nor recognize the ruling passed by the Permanent Court of Arbitration. Hong added that “China has indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea Islands and the adjacent waters”. Hong would also claim that the “Chinese government has consistently and actively maintained its sovereignty over the islands”.

China has territorial disputes in the South China Sea with its neighbors, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei Darussalam. In 2013 the Philippines brought the dispute before the Permanent Court of Arbitration as China began major land reclamation and island building projects in the South China Sea. That is, China began turning atolls into islands and began major land reclamation and construction projects on the Spratly Islands, among others.

China claims that both the Declaration of the Government of the People’s Republic of China on the Territorial Sea of 1958 and the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone of 1992 expressly provide that the territory of China includes, among others, the Dongsha Islands, the Xisha Islands, the Zhongsha Islands and the Nansha Islands.

Beijing’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong argued that under the relevant  provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), as well as the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone (1992) and the Law on the Exclusive Economic Zone and the Continental Shelf of the People’s Republic of China (1998), China’s Nansha Islands is fully entitled to Territorial Sea, Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and Continental Shelf.

Hong added that all those acts affirm China’s territorial sovereignty and relevant maritime rights in the South China Sea. He stressed that China’s historical rights in the South China Sea are supported by historical and jurisprudential evidence.  China has previously, during a meeting between Foreign Minister Wang Yi and UN Secretary-General Ban Kyi-moon, denounced “the Philippines’ refusal of dialog and its unilateral initiation of the arbitration violated the spirit of international rule of law and distorted UNCLOS, which are not conducive to the peaceful settlement of disputes”.

The Philippines, on the other hand, insist that they tried direct talks with China before the government in Manila went to the Court. The Philippines insist that the case was brought before the court in The Hague because China, on one hand, claimed that the dispute could be settled between good neighbors, while China unilaterally began its island building, expansion and development and insisted on “its unquestionable right” to do that. China’s projection of “soft power” by stressing that Tokyo should “consider the cost of  its position with regard to the dispute” has also deeply disturbed Japan.

More than a Dispute between China and the Philippines

China’s territorial claims also overlap with Vietnam’s Economic Exclusion Zone (EEZ) as well as territory claimed by Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam. Vietnam is not only concerned about the territorial dispute as such. Vietnam has repeatedly stressed that Chinese fishing flotillas infringe on Vietnamese fishing grounds. Vietnam has repeatedly stressed that illegal Chinese fishing is being protected by Chinese coast guard vessels. Diplomatic attempts by Vietnam to give Beijing “an easy way out” have largely failed. Hanoi has repeatedly, and to no avail, addressed Beijing, stressing that “rogue Chinese Coast Guard units” possibly protect illegal fishing flotilla without the knowledge of and approval from Beijing.

The Chinese way to report about industrial-scale fishing in disputed waters.

Malaysia has also repeatedly complained about illegal fishing in Malaysian waters and the fact that Chinese fishing flotilla were being protected by Chinese Coast Guard vessels. In March 2016 Malaysia summoned China’s Ambassador to Kuala Lumpur to voice Malaysia’s concerns about what it described as an encroachment by a large number of Chinese-flagged fishing boats in the South China Sea and the protection of illegal fishing flotilla by Chinese coast guard vessels.

The Malaysian Foreign Ministry explained that it had summoned Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China to Malaysia, Huang Huikang, to seek clarification. There have been several incidents before and since then. Targeting international readers, Chinese State media like the Xinhua news agency attempt to cover over industrial-scale illegal fishing by associating reporting about fisheries disputes with images of small coastal fishing vessels.

Settling the disputes in bilateral talks has in part been complicated by the involvement of the United States. The USA as well as traditional US allies such as South Korea and Japan and their economies are as dependent on safe shipping in the region as China. While the United States claims that Beijing infringes on international shipping rights as well as on the territories of its neighbors, China repeatedly stressed that the United States’ military brinkmanship in the region aggravates the situation and complicates bilateral talks with Beijing’s neighbors.

Indonesia, for its part, has no territorial claims that overlap with those of China. The government in Jakarta has, however, repeatedly stressed that Indonesia is affected by the situation. Indonesia has stressed that it is neutral and does not necessarily agree with positions held by ASEAN or other ASEAN members.

Indonesia warned against a military escalation and stressed the need to solve the disputes diplomatically. However, this year Jakarta declared its intentions to turn Indonesia into a global maritime axis power. Growing tensions and ambitions have also prompted Indonesia to adjust its defense strategy.

Indonesia’s navy will receive submarines that are being build in cooperation with South Korea this year. In early July 2016, Jakarta announced that Indonesia will build several military bases in the Natuna Islands to safeguard the country’s sovereignty. Indonesia will also the runway of Ranai Air Base. The strategic importance of the Natuna Islands, located directly adjacent to Malaysia, Vietnam, and Cambodia has increased significantly since the onset and aggravation of territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

To view the dispute and the possible consequences of a conflict from a global perspective

More than half of the world’s annual merchant fleet tonnage passes through chokepoints in Southeast Asia, including the Lombok, Makassar and Sunda Straits, amounting to one-third of all maritime traffic worldwide. Oil, transported through the Malacca Strait from the Indian Ocean and on to East Asia via the South China Sea is three times the amount that passes through Egypt’s Suez Canal and fifteen times the amount that is shipped through the Panama Canal. Both of these canal’s have been the cause of armed conflict. While China criticizes the United States, the USA, quite correctly, insists that its economy is as dependent on safe shipping in the South China Sea as the economy of China.

CH/L – nsnbc 08.07.2016

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